Im looking for some suggestions on how to make the connection from cowl to grill for my roadster. I dont have much if any experience in sheet metal but am just trying to find out how it could be done. The body lines work good with the cowl and grill, the difficult part is that there is a ridge in the grill and not in the cowl. So i was thinking i could carry that ridge into the air cleaner and and fade it around it. Or have the ridge blend into a teardrop scoop to cover the air cleaner. Or find another air cleaner that would work better with a hood and just fade the ridge into a point. Not sure. Looking for any opinions on looks and construction of a hood.
here is an early thought process just to see how it would line up. there is allready a ledge for a hood on the grill. Id have to attach something to the firewall for a ledge on the body.
Sounds to me like you know exactly what you want, so make one out bristol board (light card) and make it fit exactly (including acceptible gaps). Mark it with all your reveal lines and use it as a pattern for 18 ga cold rolled steel and fly at it.
My largest concern is the ridge in the grill. That complicates things. If that wasnt there, it would be a simple, well more simple shape.
I'm no expert metal man (ugh not even close). But I think it would be too hard to make that hood out of one solid sheet. But I supposed it could be done using a technique like this. But if it were me, I consider making the overall shape out of one piece and then weld/blend on on a smaller pieces that has peak in it. But like I said, I'm still learnin'- more ideas than experience
Hey, I think Screwtheman nailed it...... I'd build this hood in three panels, the two sides and the center, with the swage runnin down the middle. To start, decide what shape the swage will take and hammer form or bead/ ewheel that shape into the center panel. Next, decide how far down the sides, the hood will run. To form each of the sides to match and fare to the cowl and grille shape, measure in four inch increments, and mark from the center of the cowl, with a sharppie or soap stone, points from the center down each side. Now do this same number on your grille shell. Next, plank out your material, each of the side pieces plus the center. Check the fit between the cowl and grill shell and adjust as necessary. Now mark off onto the material the points ya marked onto the cowl and grille. Draw lines from the points on the cowl to the points on the grille shell. These lines will be your bending guide when you form the panel over some four inch pipe on the work bench. Now place one of the panels, marked increment points up, on the bench with half of it hang gin off the bench. Cut a four inch o.d. pipe the length of your hood plus and clamp this to the bench, centering it over the first line on the panel. Now carefully lift up on the edge of the panel overhanging the bench and bend. You may wanna try this in thin cardboard or 22 24 gage first to get the feel for it. Bend each line of the panel this way and compair often with the cowl and grille shell. With some tweeking and bending you can form this panel. Swankey Devils c.C.
Cut a piece of tubing similar to the peak on the grill and add it to the hood (fair it in) . Anything more than that is pretty damn complex. It'll be a bitch with out a roller.
There doesn't appear to be any shape to the hood - looks like it's just a simple roll. For a beginner (like myself), I wouldn't suggest one piece either. I'd also go for three, but in a different way. If you can roll one piece of metal in the right places to get it to fit, then 2 pieces would work out fine. My layout for radius bends never ends up quite right though. So, 3 pieces would entail a half for each side - bent 'round an oxygen tank or BIG piece of pipe - and a section with the bead in it. 2 pieces would be the hood itself and the bead as a seperate section. For styling, I would either find/make an air cleaner with the fadeaway bead down the center (assuming it's level, or near level withthe top of the hood), or fade the bead out right before the hole for the air cleaner. Good luck! Tim D.
its hard for me to see how big that ridge is,but the way i would do it is in a brake,lay the sheet metal on the car so you can mark where the ridge would go,is it tapered,or straight? wider at the back than the front? then you have to guess or use something to measure the radius of the ridge so you can lay out the lines on the hood,then use the brake to bend the 2 bends that will be the outside of the ridge,if you don't want the ridge to go full lenght you only clamp one end of the hood in the brake,bend the 2 dends,then roll the middle over a pipe or wood dowel etc. randy
I believe Hagan does those . They ask for a template and some dimensions and they do the rest, so if all else fails...... Thats the same Hagan that does the headlight frenching kits so their ad is in all the magazines
Alot of good ideas. I'm not much of a sheetmetal man either but i'd like to throw out the idea of just eliminating the ridge on the grille altogether than trying to carry it into the hood. Seems to me the easiest solution without alot of work involved. i think the grille would look good without the ridge too.
You might try using the engine cover from the tractor as the center section of your hood. It shouldn't be too hard to extend it as needed or to fill the holes for the exhaust and manifold vent. That way you'd already have the right shape in the ridge.
If I can't bead roll it sometimes I use solid rod or brake line. My buddy did his custom all in brake line.To get the size he needed for the gutters hood grille area around tail pipe opening fenders etc. The guys at napa ask was he putting brakes on a tractor trailer for fun to bust his balls. Must have been about 60 to 70 feet of brake line on the car plus the brake lines for the car.When he showed the guys at napa what he done they were drooling
Looking for any opinions on looks and construction of a hood.[/QUOTE] I'm thinking about the same project, but I'm going to try it a little different cuz the car's already painted, so here's my three cents worth. Take some posterboard and trace the EXACT outline of both the cowl and the grill, the entire radius down to where they turn vertical. Cut this pattern and transfer to some plywood or mdf and cut out. Space EXACTLY the same as they are on the car and join with stringers. Use this as a buck, to check the radii against, as you bend. Like pimpin paint said, make some reference or witness marks on the buck and material, and bend and fit to match. Might be easier to work with, than bending over and around the engine.
I have though of removing the ridge on the grill. The problem is that the ridge narrows down and runs along the front so i dont want to remove it all. I could though remove the the tall portion just after the radiator cap opening. This area might be eaisly terminated and not look half bad. So the ridge would not continue past the filler. That would make the forming of the hood much easier.
Could I suggest finding a better grill altogether? I think I'd get creative with some metal and form my own grill before I'd attempt to mate those two things together. You've got a lot of work ahead of you either way, but spending time blending the tractor to the T isn't where I'd spend my time. Just my .02 cents . . . (BTW: I grew up around tractors . . . maybe that's what's throwing my judgement off . . . I never have gotten too excited over seeing something with a tractor on it.)
i looked on the ebay for a farmall tractor hood. They appear to be the correct length and i could probably just bend out the cowl end to fit. There going for a bit more than i want to spend though but they are kinda cool looking. I like the idea of making a form. Ill have to play around with some ideas. Thanks for the idea and comments. Anyone Else?
Just to show, but they are going for around 60 to 80 bucks minus shipping. There about the right length.
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